Cartier Women’s Initiative Regional Awards — Entrepreneurship

The Regional Awards are the main track of the Cartier Women’s Initiative, the annual impact-entrepreneurship programme Cartier has run since 2006. The awards are judged in nine world regions: Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, Europe, Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa, Anglophone and Lusophone Africa, the Middle East and North Africa, East Asia, South Asia and Central Asia, and Oceania. Three fellows are selected and ranked in each region, so twenty-seven regional fellows join every edition, together with the three fellows of the Science & Technology Pioneer Award for a cohort of thirty.

The programme welcomes women-run and women-owned businesses from any country and sector that aim to have a strong and sustainable social or environmental impact. Winners receive a grant, a fellowship year of training, coaching and media exposure, and lasting access to the programme’s community. Cartier reports 360 entrepreneurs supported since 2006, from 67 countries, with USD 16 million in financial support.

Benefits & funding

First place in each region: a USD 100,000 grant. Second place: USD 60,000. Third place: USD 30,000.
Three fellows are ranked in each of the nine regions, twenty-seven in total per edition.
The grant is not an equity investment. Payment of any tax on the grant is the fellow’s own responsibility.
A fellowship year running January to December of the award year, opening with communication and media training, visual assets production and well-being activities.
A 2.5-day in-person Women’s Impact Entrepreneurship Program with INSEAD, plus 4.5 days of Cartier Women’s Initiative Awards Week. The 2026 ceremony was held in Bangkok, Thailand on 10 June 2026.
One-to-one customised training in a chosen track: impact measurement, strategic finance, fundraising, revenue growth or organisational management.
Eight hours of intensive one-to-one leadership coaching over six months with certified coaches.
Three individual feedback sessions with jury members, plus speaking opportunities and visibility through the year.
A community platform connecting fellows to hundreds of entrepreneurs, investors, academics, advisors and ecosystem leaders.

Eligibility

Open to businesses from any country and any sector. The applicant must be at least 18 years of age on the day of the application deadline.
The applicant must be a woman and fill one of the main leadership positions, for example CEO, COO, CTO, General Manager or Managing Director.
The applicant must be part of the founding team and own a share greater than or equal to that of each co-founder. The business must be incorporated and majority owned by its founders and team members at the time of application.
The business must be for-profit, designed to generate enough revenue to support its operations and return some level of profit to its owners. Non-profit enterprises are not eligible.
Annual revenue between USD 50,000 and USD 5 million in the last closed fiscal year, and between 5 and 250 team members.
No more than USD 2 million raised in dilutive or potentially dilutive funding, counting equity and quasi-equity such as SAFEs and convertible notes.
The business entity and its finances must be independent from the founders. It must also be an original creation wholly conceived by the team, not a spin-off or franchise of an existing concept.
The business must contribute to at least one United Nations Sustainable Development Goal.
A good command of English is required, at Common European Framework of Reference Level B2 or above.
Fellows commit to the full fellowship year, January 2027 to December 2027 for the 2027 edition, and report on their impact for three years afterwards.
One application per business, and one award category per edition.

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Gender requirement
Female
Age requirement
≥ 18 yrs

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Application process

1
Watch the award page for the application window. The 2027 edition opened on 16 April 2026 at 2pm CEST and closed on 16 June 2026 at 2pm CEST.
2
Read the applicant guide, the selection criteria and scoring rubric, the terms and conditions and the information flyer, all published as PDFs on the award page.
3
Register on the application portal and complete the form in English, choosing a single award category.
4
Attach the compulsory documents: a one-minute video answering three questions, a resume, the company registration document, a capitalisation table, professionally prepared or audited financial statements from the two most recent fiscal years, and a pitch deck of roughly fifteen pages. A competitive landscape and up to three further attachments are optional.
5
Shortlisting against the eligibility rules and the scoring rubric.
6
In-depth due diligence on the top five applicants in each region.
7
Presentation before the jury, which selects and ranks the top three fellows in each region.
8
Applicants are notified of their application status by December 2026, and the fellows are publicly announced in spring 2027.

Program timeline

16 April 2026
Applications open for the 2027 edition, 2pm CEST
Application deadline, 2pm CEST
16 June 2026
Applicants notified of their application status
By December 2026
Fellows publicly announced
Spring 2027
Communication and media training, visual assets production and well-being activities
January to May 2027
In-person induction, INSEAD Women’s Impact Entrepreneurship Program, Awards Week and ceremony
June 2027
Customised training, executive leadership coaching and well-being activities
July to December 2027